Antenna Wire

[Phil LaMarche]

Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed.  The wire
broke in the wind.  What should I purchase to replace what is lost?

Thanks in advance.

Philip LaMarche
LaMarche Enterprises, Inc.
www.instantgourmetspices.com
727-944-3226
[phone] pin 02
Cell 727-510-5038
N.A.S.F.T # 30210
W9DVM
 
 
 
 

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[Jim Brown-10]

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 16:36:07 -0400, Phil LaMarche wrote:

>Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed.  The wire
>broke in the wind.  What should I purchase to replace what is lost?

Sorry to hear of your bad luck.

If you want to stick with dipoles, go to Home Depot and buy the biggest
copper wire that you think you can support. I like #8 or #10 for long runs
that are fed by RG8 or RG11, or #12 for shorter runs and runs that don't
need to support as much weight.

I would also look at WHAT elements failed. Was it the wire, the
attachment points, the insulators?  Whatever those weak points were, do
them "beefier" than what you did before.

IMO, anything #14 or larger is a fraction of a dB from #8, and many of us
have made lots of QSO's with wires as small as #18 to #22 (although you
may see a dB or two of loss for the small wire size).

If you're a DX chaser, a vertical with a decent ground system is a fine
alternative. So is a good long wire with a decent counterpoise. Many folks
swear by something called an inverted L, or even tying both sides of a
feedline together and feeding it as a long wire with the dipole providing
top loading. The latter configuration works VERY well for me on 80 and
160.  To make this work, there can't be a balun at the antenna, because
this would disconnect the top section from the vertical section. So if and
when you use this dipole as a dipole, you need a balun between the tuner
and the feedline.


Jim Brown  K9YC


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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

Sorry to hear that Phillip.

Just about any wire is fine. Insulation makes no difference.

Since you are subject to strong winds there, you might want to go with the
stronger types of wire designed for antennas. You want to stay with
something at least copper-clad. RF flows in the surface of the wire so the
insides don't matter at all. Hard-drawn stranded copper is very common and
sold by HRO and other outlets. Stronger yet is "copperweld", a single-strand
steel wire jacketed with copper. It's very strong but kinks easily. It's
like handling a giant slinky once you get it loose but not under tension.
One kink is deadly; it drastically weakens the wire at that point. Be very
careful as you pull the wire straight to make sure no loops turn into kinks.


Are you stringing wire between trees or even a long span between solid
supports? If so, you might want to consider some strain relief. When I lived
where high winds blew, I secured one end of my antenna by running a rope
from the end insulator over a pulley at the top of the support and down near
the ground. There it looped through another pulley and was run back up
several feet and tied off. To the "floating pulley near the ground I hooked
a bucket with some rocks in it - enough to hold proper tension on the wire.
When the wind blew, the antenna could sway and the bucket of rocks would
move up and down. It had about 4 feet of travel, but I never saw my 150 foot
wire move it more than a foot or two, even in 70 to 80 MPH gusts.

If you do that, be sure the bucket has lots of holes in the bottom. A strong
storm with lots of rain can fill it and make it too heavy or rust out the
bottom over time so the rocks fall out!

If you have a tree that sways, you might consider such a flexible attachment
at each end, and make sure the feed line has enough give to it doesn't limit
the travel.

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Phil LaMarche
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 1:36 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Antenna Wire


Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed.  The wire
broke in the wind.  What should I purchase to replace what is lost?

Thanks in advance.

Philip LaMarche
LaMarche Enterprises, Inc.
www.instantgourmetspices.com
727-944-3226
[phone] pin 02
Cell 727-510-5038
N.A.S.F.T # 30210
W9DVM
 
 
 
 

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[Paul Saville]

Copperweld 14AWG or 12 AWG. It has a steel core for strength and copper cladding for RF conductivity. It is difficult to work with, and apparently can rust if the cladding gets nicked, but is the strongest option for ham antennas.
 
> Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just
> passed.  The wire broke in the wind.  What should I
> purchase to replace what is lost?


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[Art - W6KY]

Phillip,
I agree with Ron. I used the Hard-drawn stranded copper from HRO. Made
a dipole, 100ft per side, 450ohm ladderline. Had it up 3 years for 160 meters.
No stretch in the wire. Measured when I took it down. Still wuthin 1/8 of an
inch after 3 years....Also Universal Radio sells the Steel center/Copper clad
by the foot. Great stuff..
Good Luck,  Art  W6KY
K1-2  K1-4

Ron D'Eau Claire <[hidden email]> wrote:
Sorry to hear that Phillip.

Just about any wire is fine. Insulation makes no difference.

Since you are subject to strong winds there, you might want to go with the
stronger types of wire designed for antennas. You want to stay with
something at least copper-clad. RF flows in the surface of the wire so the
insides don't matter at all. Hard-drawn stranded copper is very common and
sold by HRO and other outlets. Stronger yet is "copperweld", a single-strand
steel wire jacketed with copper. It's very strong but kinks easily. It's
like handling a giant slinky once you get it loose but not under tension.
One kink is deadly; it drastically weakens the wire at that point. Be very
careful as you pull the wire straight to make sure no loops turn into kinks.


Are you stringing wire between trees or even a long span between solid
supports? If so, you might want to consider some strain relief. When I lived
where high winds blew, I secured one end of my antenna by running a rope
from the end insulator over a pulley at the top of the support and down near
the ground. There it looped through another pulley and was run back up
several feet and tied off. To the "floating pulley near the ground I hooked
a bucket with some rocks in it - enough to hold proper tension on the wire.
When the wind blew, the antenna could sway and the bucket of rocks would
move up and down. It had about 4 feet of travel, but I never saw my 150 foot
wire move it more than a foot or two, even in 70 to 80 MPH gusts.

If you do that, be sure the bucket has lots of holes in the bottom. A strong
storm with lots of rain can fill it and make it too heavy or rust out the
bottom over time so the rocks fall out!

If you have a tree that sways, you might consider such a flexible attachment
at each end, and make sure the feed line has enough give to it doesn't limit
the travel.

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Phil LaMarche
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 1:36 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Antenna Wire


Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed. The wire
broke in the wind. What should I purchase to replace what is lost?

Thanks in advance.

Philip LaMarche
LaMarche Enterprises, Inc.
www.instantgourmetspices.com
727-944-3226
[phone] pin 02
Cell 727-510-5038
N.A.S.F.T # 30210
W9DVM





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[brianboschma]

Use Spectra line sheathed with dacron. Have #14 soft copper stranded
inserted beneath the sheath. The Spectra is extremely strong and will
carry the tension load. The copper is your conductor. Spectra even as
small as 1/8" should handle this task well.

bb n6iz

Paul Saville wrote:

>Copperweld 14AWG or 12 AWG. It has a steel core for strength and copper cladding for RF conductivity. It is difficult to work with, and apparently can rust if the cladding gets nicked, but is the strongest option for ham antennas.
>
>  
>
>>Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just
>>passed.  The wire broke in the wind.  What should I
>>purchase to replace what is lost?
>>    
>>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
>Post to: [hidden email]
>You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
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>Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
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>
>
>  
>

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[Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy-2]

Hi Phil,

Bad news. Very sorry indeed.

I agree with Ron about strain relief when using trees. A MUST in my opinion.
Here I have a rope catenary up about 80 feet and about 200ft long, one end
to a pine tree - the other to a hardwood. Both dance in the 100 mph winds we
get at times, nothing like your winds. The rope is 6mm triple braided
ultraviolet resistant for marine use. The pulleys also for marine use
(sheets) with ball bearings and of the ENCLOSED type so that the chance of a
flying twig jamming a pulley is much reduced. I had this happen years ago
when using "open" pulleys. My counterweight is like Ron's but low tech.
Don't have the bucket yet.

Good luck and 73,

Geoff    GM4ESD

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil LaMarche" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 9:36 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Antenna Wire


> Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed.  The wire
> broke in the wind.  What should I purchase to replace what is lost?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Philip LaMarche

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[Charles Greene]

Paul and All,

If you live near enough sea water to get an occasional sea spray, the
copperweld  copper clAdding will corrode green, then the core will rust in
several places.  After that the wire breaks if flexed like.  I had a
copperweld antenna about 100 ft from high tide on Narragansett bay, and it
corroded, rusted and broke in several pieces in a breeze.

At 08:56 PM 9/7/2004, Paul Saville wrote:

>Copperweld 14AWG or 12 AWG. It has a steel core for strength and copper
>cladding for RF conductivity. It is difficult to work with, and apparently
>can rust if the cladding gets nicked, but is the strongest option for ham
>antennas.
>
> > Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just
> > passed.  The wire broke in the wind.  What should I
> > purchase to replace what is lost?
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
>Post to: [hidden email]
>You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
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>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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>Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

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